Africa-Press – Uganda. The Equal Opportunities’ Commission (EOC) has tasked police to protect rights of women and other vulnerable groups living in the barracks and ensure they access government programmes.
Presenting their recommendations to the leadership of Uganda Police Force at the police headquarters in Naguru, Kampala, yesterday, Ms Safia Nalule Juuko, the chairperson of the EOC, said several families living in barracks were not benefiting from government development programmes.
“The police force has not adequately benefited from government projects such as Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), Emyooga, Parish Development Model and Naads. For example, at Nsambya Barracks in 2019, it was reported that only two cows and 11 piglets were sent under OWC,” she said.
Ms Nalule also condemned what she termed as the unfair treatment of officers in their Saccos, especially in accessing loans and involuntary membership. She also criticised the compulsory purchase of 100 shares, with each costing Shs11,000.
Other issues that the EOC tasked the police leadership to address include poor housing facilities, especially for lower ranking officers, unfair and gender insensitive promotions, paying for police bonds, unconstitutional detention of suspects in police cells beyond the minimum required 48 hours, especially for vulnerable people who can’t afford lawyers, and sexual harassment.
The team was also concerned about the alleged denial of driving permits to persons with disabilities because of their condition, contrary to the Traffic and Road Safety Act, 1998 (Amended) and lack of sign language interpreters in some police units.
On the issue of budgeting, Ms Nalule said the Commission’s assessment of the police budgets noted inconsistence in addressing gender and equity, where the Force scored 73 percent, 66 percent, 71 percent and 73 percent in the financial years 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, and 2023/2024, respectively.
In addition, the EOC officials said inhumane and degrading handling of suspects, such as mixing people with infectious diseases with those who are healthy, congestion in cells, torture of suspects in police cell and delays in investigating cases should equally be addressed.
She, however, commended police for keeping law and order, in spite of inadequate budget, understaffing and high police-citizen ratio.
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